Much of Centretown became a lockdown zone on Wednesday after a soldier guarding the National War Memorial was shot dead by a man believed to have then stormed Parliament Hill and wounded a House of Commons security guard before being killed in a shootout with police.
CBC News says it has confirmed the dead shooting suspect is Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.
Scenes of chaos played out across the city’s downtown core as various workplaces — including Parliament itself — were evacuated amid bursts of gunfire and police cordoned off streets in a search for what they believed might be multiple suspects.
The Rideau Centre, Chateau Laurier and other landmark buildings were cleared as police spent hours trying to comprehend the scope of the attack and ensure no further sites were being targeted in what they described as “an active shooting investigation.”
Jason Kenney, federal minister of employment, social development and multiculturalism, was the first government official to reveal, via his Twitter feed, that the second shooting incident had left a “Parliamentary guard wounded.” Kenney, underscoring the general assumption — not immediately confirmed — that that the shootings were acts of terrorism, added that: “Canada will not be terrorized or intimidated.”
Jordan Davies, a Carleton University student who was in the downtown area visiting his girlfriend when the incident began to unfold, said he was at the war memorial just minutes of the first shooting.
He described the scene as “chaotic” and “surreal.”
“I was on Rideau Street when the commotion began,” said Davies. “At first no one had any idea what was happening. There was a very fast police response so there was a lot of police activity. Then word started spreading that there was a shooting and buildings started getting shut down very quickly.”
Davies described how “police had their guns drawn, it was very chaotic. There were too many people talking and too many sirens to hear any shots.”
Davies took shelter in the courtyard in front of Milestones restaurant next to the Chateau Laurier.
“I thought, at least, that down here I don’t have to worry about stray bullets or anything like that.”
Antonio Grassa, a Centretown resident said: “I was like ‘wow’ I can’t believe this is even happening,” said “I’m shocked, I’m really impressed how fast Ottawa shut down. It’s a serious situation.”
Shortly after 10 a.m., Twitter and other social media exploded with witness reports, photos and videos of police SWAT units and medical teams responding to the crisis. The RCMP’s national division, meanwhile, used its own Twitter feed to warn citizens “not to post videos or photos of the on-going incident to ensure safety of first responders and the public.”
The RCMP further warned downtown workers “to stay off rooftops and away from windows in the downtown core” as events unfolded — a chilling sign of how a national security incident that captured the world’s attention was also creating potential risks for Centretown residents and office workers.
By early afternoon, it had been confirmed that the soldier shot at the war memorial in Confederation Square — the Elgin Street plaza where the national Remembrance Day ceremony is held every Nov. 11 — had died. Two other unidentified victims, including the Parliament Hill security guard, had been taken to hospital with “minor injuries,” according to comments by Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau during a mid-afternoon press conference.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, who also spoke at the police press conference, paid tribute to the Canadian Forces serviceman killed at the war memorial.
“To have it happen in such circumstances as this morning is beyond expression, and underlined by a sad anger within my heart,” said Watson. “But I’ll not let that anger rule the day. Our city, Ottawa, the capital of our country, has seen and lived through tragedy in the past. We’re doing so again today — a different sort of tragedy, origins as yet not fully known, causes not yet fully understood. We all want answers, none moreso than me.”
At 1:45 p.m. Wednesday — just hours before press time for this issue of Centretown News — Ottawa Police released a statement confirming that “one shooting victim had succumbed to injuries. He was a member of the Canadian Forces. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones.”
The police statement also clarified that “contrary to earlier reports, no incident occurred near the Rideau Centre.”
Victoria MacArthur, who works at a downtown building, spent most of the day in lockdown and without cell service.
“At first, I didn’t really understand the severity of the situation — all I knew was that there was a shooting near Parliament,” she said. “However, when news came out that a soldier was shot at the National War Memorial, I was deeply saddened and quite frankly, angry.”
The incident took place just days after another Canadian Forces personnel was killed in a hit-and-run collision blamed on a “radicalized” Quebec man who had been expressing his support for the ISIS terrorists attempting to establish an Islamic state in Syria and Iraq.
The incidents have raised concerns about home-grown terrorism, the heightened risk to uniformed military personnel in Canada and the level of security surrounding politicians and public servants in the National Capital Region.
“It was more surreal than anything else . . . that was the general vibe,” said Davies, the Carleton student swept up in Wednesday’s events. “People couldn’t believe it was actually happening in Ottawa in front of the Parliament Buildings.”